Astros Pack Up Junk for Ride Home

Astronauts to take a day off Monday after grueling spacewalk missions

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This image provided by NASA shows a portion of the International Space Station photographed by a space walking astronaut during the STS-128 mission's second session of extravehicular activity Thursday Sept. 3, 2009 as construction and maintenance continue on the station.

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On Monday, the cylinder will be loaded on board the shuttle, which will return to Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.

"All in all, it's been a very successful mission," astronaut Danny Olivas said of his three spacewalks to replace the space station's ammonia coolant system and perform other maintenance tasks. "Everybody here is in good spirits, and we are ready to finish up here and come home."